USB has improved my life, cleared my desk, and generally made me more appealing to children and small dogs. The keys to this better way are powered hubs, USB switches, and lots of spare cables. The downside is there are a lot of cables these days. But you get used to that.
Here’s what I’m using via USB these days:
- keyboard
- trackboall
- cd-burner
- external drives
- CF card reader
- scanner
- printers
- headset
Simplicity
The great thing is that they are all plugged into my powered hub (Belkin, solid) and so when I set my tablet down at home, I just plug in *one* cable and get everything at a shot.
Distance
I can keep a bunch of periperhals up on the shelf, about 10 feet away. They all plug into the hub, and the hub then runs a cable to the PC, which is next to me. I like this arrangement as it keeps my desk free of devices, except those I really want to touch.
Overall, USB has been solid for me, no problems at all. The 2.0 speed is great and although some of my drives have Firewire as well I’m fine with USB most of the time.